Oyshi Sushi (Toronto)

If you find yourself on Queen’s Quay looking for a quick, easy, and inexpensive bite, then Oyshi Sushi is exactly what you’re looking for! Unlike most restaurants in downtown Toronto the prices here are very reasonable. My meal ended up being under $15 and it was surprisingly filling.

After taking an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out how to get to the restaurant (and nearly entering a private apartment complex in the process), I sat down at the sushi bar for my meal at about 1:30PM on Friday.

Sitting at the sushi bar I was able to see all of the Japanese decor- signed baseballs, pictures of baseball players, fishing antiques, a katana, and various trophies. It felt like I was looking at someone’s past memories of growing up and living in Japan.

The restaurant is small and quite crowded, with a few booths and tables, and about six or seven spots at the sushi bar. It was nearly full when I arrived yet immediately the lightning fast waitress gave me a menu and asked if I would like anything to drink. I decided on Sushi A ($11.95), which came with 8 pieces of nigiri and 3 maki rolls, and included a soup and salad to start.

Nigiri: The fish was very good and tasted quite fresh with the perfect amount of wasabi in it. Unfortunately, there was too much rice, which was a bit tough and took away from the great flavour of the fish itself. It also would have been nice if three of the eight pieces hadn’t been salmon.

Maki: The entire roll was very mushy with some dry, flaky shrimp tempura. It didn’t taste very good with its poor blend of flavours. Was a disappointment after the great nigiri.

A quick and inexpensive sushi restaurant sitting right on Toronto’s Harbourfront. Excellent nigiri and high fish quality but avoid the maki. Great decor and lightning fast service. I would highly recommend trying this if you’re in the area.